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• Invest in a set of Craft Scissors, you will never have to buy border again!

• A sign up sheet for Parents to donate items helps a great deal with cutting your out of pocket costs. Make sure the list is up at least a month before you actually need the items to give Parents plenty of time to gather them. Leave the list in clear view as a "reminder" for the parents. You don't want to be left scrambling at the last minute.

• Purchasing items like glue sticks, notebooks, paper, markers etc are always cheaper a few weeks before school starts. Check out Walmart where you can get glue sticks for 25 cents each and a $1 for markers! Staples has awesome deals right around this time so check their website for 1cent deals, on pocket folders and pencils!

• Allow opportunities for children to experiment and create with all sorts of materials. Sequences, pipe cleaners, stickers, ink stampers, buttons, craft sticks, glitter etc they will create masterpieces and you can frame them as presents for Mom and Dad!

• Parents love to see art come home, so I always have paint and paper out for the children. Finger paint, tempera, watercolors all are good options to switch out each week.

• Marker caps left open? Simple solution is to soak the tip in water! Good as new!

• Nail polish remover gets Permanent Marker off of nearly anything!

• "Goo gone" or "oops" takes of sticky messes like tape off walls and stickers!

•Can't draw? No problem! Use a projector! Trace what you want onto a piece of transparency paper then place it on the projector! You can make it any size you need too! Or trace what you need onto white paper using a light table (or my favorite, up against a window with lots of light) cut it out, trace onto poster board and cut that out and you have an instant stencil you can use year after year! File it for next time!

•Laminate, Laminate, Laminate!! I cannot stress this enough! You will not regret it I promise!

• If you are a new Teacher, start your book collection one book at a time. You will be surprised how quickly it will build up and no reserving books from the Library! Amazon has the best prices around so always check there first!

•Spend a few dollars for letter stencils at Staples or The Dollar Tree, they are priceless when it comes to making Bulletin Boards!

• Reuse letters from bulletin boards you have created by YES laminating them. After you take them down put them in a sandwich sized zip lock bag, write what it spells out and paperclip them to the set! Why cut them out every year?

• The Dollar Tree and many other Dollar Stores have the best stuff for cheap! They change stock often according to the season so get it while its there!

•A great way to help children with "cutting skills" is to place scraps of paper in a large container with scissors and let them have a ball! My students love to snip away and also to use the scraps of paper to create at the art center!